Matthew Lovett

ID# 20566522

The Shape of Things Reflections

 What have you learned about your writing process during this experience? Did
you find that your writing process is recursive just like Andrew Hollinger
explained in "the creative process" video (intro to series THREE.2)? Did you
experience your writing process in a different way? Tell me about it!
While some aspects of Hollinger’s creative process are similar to my own, I’ve learned
throughout the course of my research that there are more differences between his and mine. Firstly,
while invention is something both our processes share, typically more of a “spur of the moment” for
me, as I don’t intentionally have a particular activity, I take part in to discover ideas. He mentions that
he would typically taking drives and be alone with his thoughts, as for me I’ll just be partaking in my
regular daily routine when an idea suddenly shows itself. It’s not coordinated as I find that when
you’re not actively searching for inspiration, it comes easier to you, at least that’s how I’ve found my
best ideas. Another difference is that my first draft is typically about as similar as my final draft, with
the exception being is that my final paper is more polished and coherent, but the same structure and
information relatively stays the same. Which is different to how Andrew describes how your rough
draft looks nothing like how your final paper will look. However, a characteristic we share is that
we’re both “paragraph-by-paragraph” writers, where we write a few beginning sentences and
continue building upon them. Nonetheless, the main difference I experienced was probably the fact
the way I gathered research, as I learned how to choose the best sources for my topic and implement
effectively, which is a attribute I lacked in my previous writing history.

 Which texts -- whether they were complete texts or just excerpts -- and videos
were especially meaningful for you during this series? What kind of impact did
they have on you?
What was most instrumental to the entire span of time I’ve spent on this paper would be the
websites and blogposts by various educational institutes and professors. Because I felt as though they
were the most reliable of all sources. As the institutions are dedicated to the study and promoting of
quality education, and the professors have had firsthand experience in teaching and are genuinely
dedicated to expanding the horizons when it comes to education. They also provided great insight
about my topic and other related information in a way I could understand and comprehend. A lot of
this information I would’ve never discovered otherwise and opened my mind about my topic, and I
was able to form a well-crafted theory because of it. Much of my essay wouldn’t have been as
substantial or taken seriously if I hadn’t collected all these different sources. At the end, my essay
became a credible source of information and the point I was trying to convey was strengthened. I also
had a better understanding of the field of research I was dealing with and which related with my
topic. Which allowed me to find other relating sources I could dissect from and use as well, they were
also very interesting to read and I found myself more and more intrigued with every sentence.

 Overall, what are you thinking about inquiry and research at the end of the
series? What did you find particularly challenging or interesting?
In retrospective, the concept of inquiry hadn’t dawned on me until I began writing and
researching for my essay. I now understand fully about the importance analysis and investigation has
when you are striving to create a well-crafted theory that deals with an important subject matter,
 Matthew Lovett
ID# 20566522

such as education with my paper. It really is quite the adventure when you begin researching and
you go down the rabbit hole of whatever the subject matter of your essay may be about. You always
strive for a goal which is to form a concrete answer for your inquiry, and that pushes you to delve
deep and find your best sources. It is also a great sense of accomplishment when you do find a great
source of knowledge in which to integrate into your paper, it makes your essay feel more complete
and thorough like your argument is solid and brings a new insight into what topic your paper
discusses. I found the entire period of me scouring the internet for sources to be the most interesting
and fascinating as I felt I was obtaining many different views and perspectives concerting my topic. I
just enjoy the idea of a scavenger hunt and every piece of information you collect is building towards
a collective goal you desire to achieve and I felt like it was constant positive progression the entire
time. The only challenging part I felt was the actual integration of said sources, but it only came down
to the way I worded and wove them into my narrative, a simple obstruction I could easily straddle
over with time.